Ghana: the real cost of smuggling

From filming 'day-in-the-life' videos, to capturing casual conversations in the office, some employees are no longer just working behind the scenes. They're stepping into the spotlight as the creative forces behind their company's social media content. More businesses are moving away from paying for traditional social media influencers to market their brands, to asking their own staff to do it. Meet the 'workfluencers'.This type of in-house marketing might serve as a useful recruitment tool, or help to humanise corporations while boosting engagement, but it carries risks for a business. And how honest can employees be in what they post? Should they be paid extra to do this sort of work? If you would like to get in touch with the show, please email: [email protected] and produced by Deborah Weitzmann(Picture: Employees filming content for social media. Credit: Joe & the Juice)

Why are egg prices in the US so high? The price of a dozen eggs has risen dramatically this year, and in some stores, consumers face prices approaching the 10 dollar mark – five times the long-term average. Meanwhile, breakfasts are booming for US hospitality but restaurants are also raising their prices.In a country where the average citizen eats 280 eggs annually, is there an end in sight to the high cost of buying this household staple? Or is it time to look for an egg alternative?If you would like to get in touch with the show, please email: [email protected] and produced by Matt Lines(Picture: Empty egg shelves and a sign limiting purchases to one carton per customer are seen at a grocery store in New York, United States on 16 April, 2025. Credit: Getty Images)

We're in Chile, where it’s grape harvesting time and vineyard workers are busy cleaning their barrels to make way for new batches.The South American country has more than a thousand different varieties of grapes, but it’s proving hard to reach a new generation of wine drinkers.It’s not just young people drinking less. Around the world wine production is in decline. This is often due climate change causing extreme droughts which affects harvests.How do wine-producing countries like Chile respond - and keep the industry thriving?Presented and produced by Jane Chambers(Image: Friends having fun and relaxing together drinking red wine during a rooftop party in New York East Village. New York is one of the key markets for new-style Chilean wine. Credit: Getty Images)

Consumer goods as well as fuel and cocoa are all crossing Ghana’s northern border illegally, and in large volumes. It's costing the government billions of dollars in lost revenues. Ed Butler looks at perhaps the biggest illegal trade - gold - Ghana’s number one cash export. But even as the informal economy, unmonitored and untaxed, continues to grow, some are asking: isn’t there also a specific economic solution to the problem? In the second of two programmes, based at the northern Ghanaian border with Burkina Faso, he finds out what some are suggesting could be done to change the criminals’ incentives. Produced and presented by Ed Butler(Image: Illegal gold mining in northern Ghana)

Consumer goods, fuel, gold and cocoa are all crossing the border illegally - it's costing the government billions of dollars - so can it be stopped? Ed Butler travels to the northern Ghanaian border with Burkina Faso, and hears from cocoa smugglers who are operating in the region. Produced and presented by Ed Butler (Image: A livestock market in northern Ghana. Traders, including those pictured, told the BBC they believe some of the livestock is contraband)

Argentina, a country often associated with economic turbulence, is emerging as a frontrunner in agricultural biotechnology and home to a third of Latin America's start-ups. From shrimp shells to super crops, we explore how a blend of scientific talent, venture capital and cutting-edge research is starting to transform farming - one of the country's most important sectors. While Argentina is becoming a global player in this area, can this boom be sustained amid economic and political challenges in the country?If you would like to get in touch with the show, please email: [email protected] and produced by Natalio Cosoy(Picture: Engineer Mario Nejamkin, and Claudia Casalongue, cofounder and scientific lead at agri-tech start-up Unibaio, standing in a potato field in Argentina. Credit: BBC)

The small country of Armenia in the South Caucasus has long been positioning itself as an emerging technology hub. Hundreds of tech start-ups with strong ties to the US market through the Armenian diaspora are now based there. From 2020 to 2022, investments in small Armenian tech companies reached $48 million. The industry has been partly fuelled by the arrival of hundreds of Russian IT specialists following the invasion of Ukraine.We hear how the government wants the IT sector to develop the economy, talk to tech start-up founders, and find out how tech education for children is being prioritised.If you would like to get in touch with the show, please email: [email protected](Picture: Staff in the offices of Doctor Yan, a health care assistant app in Armenia. Credit: BBC)Presented and produced by Rayhan Demytrie

In India’s villages, innovation is being born from necessity. From a fridge made of clay, to silk fashioned from lotus stems, to smart devices helping blind farmers manage their land, we meet the country’s grassroots innovators.If you would like to get in touch with the show, please email: [email protected] and produced by Devina Gupta(Picture: A lotus flower, on top of some fabric, next to a small handloom machine. Credit: BBC)

We’re in Helsinki where Europe’s biggest campus for startup companies is being built. What role could it play as Finland strives to create the continent’s most supportive environment for new businesses? We’ll look at some of the challenges the country’s facing as it competes for global investment and tech talent. And hear from Sweden - does it see Finland taking its start-up crown anytime soon?If you would like to get in touch with the show, please email: [email protected] and produced by Maddy Savage(Picture: Turkish entrepreneur Lalin Keyvan, who's founded a startup in Finland. Credit: BBC)

Thousands of businesses have 'spun-out' from universities - so is this an opportunity for further growth? The model has seen great success in the US, leading to booming commercial ventures such as Dropbox, iRobot, and Boston Dynamics. And now the UK government has plans for further investment in spin-outs from Oxford and Cambridge. But what evidence exists that this approach can be as effective in other parts of the world? And as global economies strive for growth, will there be competition for talent and investment?If you would like to get in touch with the show, please email: [email protected] and produced by Sam Fenwick(Image: Oxford University in the UK)